There was a glimmer of hope for fishermen when the New England Fishery Management Council voted to allow groundfishermen limited access to large areas currently off limits to fishing.

DON CUDDY

PLYMOUTH — In the midst of a fishery disaster, there was a glimmer of hope for New England fishermen Thursday when the New England Fishery Management Council voted to allow groundfishermen limited access to large areas currently off limits to fishing.

While the vote sends a positive signal to the fishing industry, the council must now include its motion in an amendment that will be addressed at its November meeting. If adopted there, the ruling would take effect when the 2013 fishing year begins on May 1.

"We spoke in favor of these closed areas 18 years ago," said Maggie Raymond, representing the Associated Fisheries of Maine, a coalition of 17 industry groups. "But we don't see they have produced the desired result."

The areas were closed to help fish stocks rebuild. But with the exception of haddock that has not happened, Raymond said. "When are we going to realize we have to do something different?" she asked.

A number of conservation groups spoke out strongly against the proposal. "We will fight this strenuously," said Peter Shelley, senior counsel for the Conservation Law Foundation, who argued that the move violated the National Environmental Policy Act. "This proposal was developed explicitly to avoid environmental review," he said.

The areas under consideration include portions of Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine that are not considered critical fish habitat areas.

Under new regulations adopted in 2010, fishermen have strict limits on how much they can catch, so they argue that closing particular areas to reduce mortality no longer makes sense.

Projected cuts to the allowable catch for species, such as cod and yellowtail flounder, threaten to force many fishermen out of business next year. Access to the closed areas would allow fishermen to target other stocks such as haddock, pollock and redfish that are more abundant, proponents say.

Calling closed areas "a major element of the prior regime," new NOAA Fisheries regional administrator John Bullard said he also favored opening the areas. "The question is, having put in one (new) form of management, are we going to honor that deal?" he said.

On Georges Bank, healthy stocks of haddock are managed jointly by the United States and Canada. But an area now closed to U.S. fishermen is located right on the line that divides the two countries. As a result, Canadian fishermen are harvesting 94 percent of their haddock quota and the U.S. is only bringing 18 percent of its allocation across the dock, according to Jackie Odell of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, which represents 12 of the 17 fishing sectors operating under the current management system.

"There's a huge economic loss occurring," she said. "With the fishery disaster we have, this would provide an opportunity to target this stock."

Council member Dave Goethel, a commercial fisherman, called closed areas "a 16-year failed science experiment" in urging his colleagues to approve the measure.

Peter Baker, fisheries director for the PEW environment group also opposed the proposal, saying it would entangle the fishing industry in lawsuits that could prevent any boats from fishing. "You'll see boats tied to the dock on May 1," he predicted.

Not all of the environmental groups in attendance opposed giving fishermen access. Emilie Litsinger, representing the Environmental Defense Fund, read a statement supporting the proposal. The motion passed 16-0 with one abstention.